


Deify

by Kariachi



Category: Ben 10 Series
Genre: Alien Culture, Alien Mythology/Religion, Alien Planet, Gen, Omniverse Compliant, The Intergalactic Roadtrip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-02-08 04:44:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21470260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kariachi/pseuds/Kariachi
Summary: Some stops on the team's roadtrip turn out to be a little more interesting than others. But then, what did they expect from the planet that made Argit?
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17





	Deify

“Well, _that_ was certainly an experience.”

“Tell me about it.” With a groan Kevin collapsed in the far corner of the room, not that it was all that far away. This was, supposedly, the largest guest home available in the colony and the front room still felt incredibly crowded with the five of them all crammed in. The only one who wasn’t visibly uncomfortable was Argit, who chattered approvingly at the space and curled up against Kevin’s side.

“Oh come on, Earthboy, you act like I haven’t been seeing you for a spirit for _years_.”

“And it’s always been annoying, because I’m _not_-”

“That’s what they all say.”

“-but at least you don’t treat me like…” Kevin gestured toward the door with a sour, uncomfortable look, visibly trying to find an appropriate descriptor. Gwen raised her hand.

“Like a visiting god?” she offered.

“That! Yes! I mean what the actual fuck!” Rolling his eyes, Argit patted him on the thigh.

“I wasn’t raised to. Some people are raised to worship spirits, some people are just raised to be respectful to them, it’s a cultural thing.”

“It is not doing any harm,” Rook pointed out, “and we will be gone in a few days, it may be prudent to just let our hosts do as they will. Though I will admit their offerings are a touch unusual.”

“Not really. Pretty standard fare.”

“Really?” Rook raised a brow at Argit in curiosity, “Back on Revonnah when we present offerings to our god it is food stuffs and material goods not, cash.”

“Yeah, but we’re a practical people,” Argit replied. “Maybe if he’d decided to walk this plane as an animal of some sort like most do they’d stick to food and stuff, but a sapient traveler of the galaxy? The fucker’s gonna need money, not everybody is as sensible about their spirit treatment as we are.” Gwen and Rook were clearly fascinated by this information, both always ready to learn something new about other species, but Ben just shook his head.

“You people are weird.”

“Benny, I will throw you out of this tree.”

“Okay, but can we keep in mind,” Kevin interjected, still looking very uncomfortable with the whole deal (he wasn’t built for the limelight, especially not when it involved communities asking for his blessings and treating him like he was the best thing they’d ever seen. It was weird and nothing like he was used to, even keeping in mind that when the fucking Proctor’s bullshittery wasn’t addling his brain Argit treated him like his smile brought the rain) “I’m not a fucking spirit!” Argit patted his thigh again.

“Yes, you are. I know you better than any other Erinaen and I say you are, the trained necromancers all say you are, you _definitely_ are.”

“I a-” Before Kevin could finish his second word- though most everyone probably knew what he was going to say anyway- a small whistle and chirp came through the door, effectively ending all conversation. The group looked at each other, silently judging the appropriate course of action, before Rook- who was closest- stood and opened the door.

There was a watch of kittens on the landing. Well, ‘kittens’, some of them were clearly closer to adulthood than they were the pouch, but not a one could’ve been more than a year into their teens. There was a decent number as well, though nowhere near as many as they’d seen milling about during the night, all stuck somewhere between looking up at the alien in their midst with open curiosity and jostling for a look inside at the visiting spirit. Argit snickered quietly while the others fought back smiles at the scene. It was impossible not to have your mood improved with nearly twenty fuzzballs standing on your porch.

“Hello,” Rook said, “was there something you needed?” Technically Revonnah etiquette demanded he invite guests in- and from the quiet tutting behind him it was the same here- but, well, it was really cramped. One of the older kittens made their way to the front, all brown fur and grey mane and probably from a first litter given their missing ear. Clearly this was the leader of the lot.

“We wanted to speak to the spirit,” they said in a tone that brooked no argument, their fellows chirping agreement behind them. Still fighting to keep a straight face- this child couldn’t be any older than his brother and was trying to act like his father- Rook turned to Kevin, who just sighed and nodded his head. The group edged closer as Rook stepped aside as much as possible, though none of them went passed the doorway.

“Spirit,” the leader said, only to be stopped by a quick snap of teeth and half-lowered ears by Argit. Apparently he wasn’t having rudeness tonight.

“_Honored_ Spirit,” they started again, “we had some questions.”

“Did you now?” Kevin’s tone was half annoyed, half amused, but he waved them on. They were kids, he wasn’t going to accept their visit and then immediately throw them out. “Alright then, ask away.” A tension fell from the lot of them, like they’d been worried they wouldn’t make it this far, and several began whispering amongst themselves, presumably about what to ask first.

“Is it weird not having a tail?” The voice was loud, came from near the back, and wasn’t supposed to be asking that given the way a few of the older kittens turned on the puff of grey and black that presumably asked with loud snaps of teeth and ears pressed firm against their manes. The way Argit hung and shook his head spoke to the rudeness of it, but they looked to be one of the smaller ones and so Kevin took pity.

“Sometimes,” he said. “I’ve had a tail often enough that sometimes it feels like there should be one there, but I wasn’t _born_ with one so it’s not often.”

“I was,” Rook added, “but Revonnahgander tails drop off naturally, and aren’t as useful as Erinaen ones, so I don’t really miss it.”

_That_ news was met with identical looks of intrigued horror.

“My cousin doesn’t have a tail,” another of the smaller kittens broke the mood just as it was building, “it got gnawed. They’re planning to carve a new one out of wood so one of the necromancers can put some of their soul in it and it’ll be like new!”

“That’s great,” Ben said with a grin, though anyone who knew him could tell he had no idea what that last half meant.

“I don’t need to worry about anything like that,” Kevin added, “if I really want a tail, I can have one again, no necromancers needed.” That last bit was directed teasingly at Argit, who gnashed his teeth in return with none of the prior bite. The kittens all looked at him with wide eyes.

“Can you really?”

“Can you show us?”

Kevin looked out over the crowd, all staring at him with reverence and expectation, then glanced at his team, then back to the kittens. With a sigh he shut his eyes, and after a moment began to glow a bright blue-white. The kittens stared. The Tennysons stared. Rook stared. Argit wordlessly climbed over Ben and Gwen on his way to the pantry.

When the glow subsided Kevin was a Kineceleran.

The room devolved into chaos.

“Wait you can do that?”

“Can you teach us?”

“Of course they can’t, they’re a spirit, you can’t learn to do spirit things!”

“Necromancers can!”

“No they can’t!”

“Yes they can!”

“Even if they could, you’re not a necromancer.”

“They _could_ be, some people hide it.”

“Yeah, but _Harin_? No.”

“Everyone be nice or I will turn this committee around, I swear.”

“Can you please, _please_, teach us, Honored Spirit? That was _so cool_!”

“It was,” Argit said as he came back into the main room, handing Kevin a massive piece of dried meat- it might have been a whole bird’s worth, they couldn’t be sure with how flat it was pounded- over the Tennysons’ shoulders, “but you’ll have to argue about learning or not on your own time. It’s _been_ starting to get light, your families will be worried.”

“But we’re with a spirit, we can’t _be_ any safer.” Lowering his ears at the piebald kitten who’d spoken, Argit drew himself to his full height- which they had since learned was fucking small even by the standards of his species, not that it made him less intimidating when he wanted to be- and frowned.

“One, never assume a spirit is safe, some are incredibly antisocial and others just don’t care. Kevin is a nice one, but even they can be very dangerous if angered. Two, are you really planning to go tell your parents that you were out past dawn bombarding a visiting spirit with questions? _Really_?” Ears drooping, the kittens backed down, suitably chastised.

“No…” the leader said. “Apologies for bothering you, Honored Spirit.” Again, Kevin took pity.

“No bother,” he said, waving it off, “we’ll be here for another two nights, you can come ask you questions then. Just get them organized before you come, and leave yourselves time to get home before the sun. It’s dangerous to be out in the day.” You’d have thought holidays had come early from the looks on the kittens’ faces. Bright and cheerful.

“Thank you, Honored Spirit,” several of the kittens called out.

“It’ll be an honor to speak to you again.”

“And an honor to host you again,” Kevin replied, even as Rook ushered the kittens off before shutting the door and leaving them all alone together again.

“Okay,” Gwen said before anyone else, halfheartedly shoving Argit as he climbed over her and her cousin again to settle back in place beside Kevin, tail wrapping around his, “before anything else- what the fuck, Kevin, you can do that at will?!” Argit blinked.

“You didn’t know?”

“We have a _history_,” Kevin replied, shrugging, “I didn’t want to make you guys uncomfortable.”

“By _shapeshifting_?” Ben asked, and Kevin shrugged again.

“The last time you guys had seen me shapeshift I’d been trying to kill you, then it was the only time you guys saw me shapeshift was when I was pulling that shit, so… I didn’t.” The Tennysons stared at him, then heaved a sigh in unison.

“Yeah,” Argit said, “you’ve only been working with him three years, imagine how tired I am. Some days you just wanna abandon him to his fate and sleep for a year.” Kevin blew a raspberry at him and Rook chuckled.

“Are you allowed to abandon your god to fate?” he asked, and Kevin groaned again.

“Not a spirit!” Argit rolled his eyes.

“Kev, Ravrsa, buddy, pal, trust me on this. You have a healing factor, you’re super durable-”

“So are you!”

“-you’re super strong, you can absorb, become, and create damn near anything and everything, you’re a powerful shapeshifter, can make electricity do shit it should not be able to do, and- most tellingly- you’re a serious conduit for pretty much anything. You. Are. A. Spirit.” Kevin glowered at him.

“I. Am. Not.”

“Been eight years, Ravrsa,” Argit said, shaking his head, “you won’t convince me.”

“Same.” The others just, stared at them like they were some strange new thing they were trying to understand. Eventually Ben shook his head.

“Yep, all definitely weird.”

“Kev?” With a grunt Kevin got to his feet, glowing again as he shifted back into his normal form and tearing off another piece of jerky.

“Come on, Benji, before the Hedgehog turns you into a jacket.” He grabbed Ben by the arm and hauled him upright, even as he whined, and dragged him out into the early morning sunlight. Gwen sighed as she, Argit, and Rook all stretched in the newfound space.

“So, a spirit?” Shrugging, Argit reclined back against the smooth wood wall.

“Sometimes they take mortal form- nobody can ever really be sure why, I mean they’re immortal beings of massive power, how are mortals supposed to fully comprehend them- but they don’t remember being spirits when they do. Which makes sense, I mean you can’t fit the forest in a pantry, gotta leave _something_ out.”

“And you’re sure Kevin is one?”

“Eight years, Red.”

“Even if he was not,” Rook added, “the locals took one look at Kevin and agreed.”

“Yeah,” Gwen said, “yeah that was, surprising.”

“Not really. You can…” Argit sighed, clearly choosing his words carefully. “If you know what to look for, or you’re a necromancer, then you can tell a spirit from a mortal, no matter whether they’re acting as one or not. They’re not the _same_. They’re, _more_.”

“Well, I can’t argue there. Never met a more ‘more’ person than Kevin.” Leaning back with a contemplative look, Gwen hummed to herself. “Which are you?”

“Hm?” For the briefest moment Argit looked surprised at the question, before his expression settled back into a calm neutrality. “He’s been my best friend since I was twelve, Red. You figure this shit out.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I, for one,” Rook said, “am curious about how this works in the long run. If he is mortal now then what happens when he dies?”

“Then he goes back to doing spirit stuff,” Argit replied. “And thank fuck for that because I’d hate for the water someplace to stop being wet forever just because Benny needed help saving the galaxy or some bullshit.”

“I am sure every water-drinking species is grateful.”

“Ya know what,” Gwen said, slowly working her way to her feet, “despite what Ben says, I’ve been dead-”

“So I’ve heard.”

“I am not having this argument with you again, Argit. I’m saying I’ve dealt with weirder stuff than alien spirituality, and I _haven’t_ eaten since dinner, so I’m going to go see about getting something together.” Nodding, the other two rose to their feet as well.

“That sounds like a good idea.”

“Just let me show you what’s not safe for you to eat, I don’t even want to know what the fallout of you getting food poisoning would be around here.”

“I cannot imagine it would offend.”

“Yeah but do you wanna see how the locals respond to accidentally poisoning a spirit’s companion?”

Gwen and Rook stopped in the doorway and looked at each other. Neither had considered that. Most places they went they had to worry about offending their hosts, especially with Ben ‘I never learned to keep my big mouth shut’ Tennyson heading the way, but here they had Argit smoothing things over and mostly keeping everything in line. The idea that this time they might have to worry about their hosts feeling _they’d_ done wrong by _them_ was… new. And Argit was right, neither of them wanted to see anybody getting upset because they’d accidentally hurt someone their, essentially _god_, cared for.

That would be _way_ more awkward than they were prepared to deal with.

“Okay,” Gwen said, “I am going to say this once, and then never again in my life- Argit? You’re in charge.”

“Thank you, Red. It was about time you realized it.”

“Don’t make me hurt you.”


End file.
